Bed Rest
by lux.astraea
Summary: Post-war. Ignores DH. Hermione and Remus find themselves alive at the end of the war and as they recover from their injuries in Hogwarts hopsital wing, they both find something new to live for.
1. Part One

A/N: Written for _donjuantriumphs_ in the rlhg-exchange on Livejournal, 2009.

Disclaimer: All you recognise belongs to JKR and associates. All you do not, is mine. No profit is made from this fanfiction.

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**Bed Rest**

Part One

Hermione grimaced as she slowly turned her head to one side, trying in vain to work out exactly where she was. It looked a lot like Hogwarts hospital wing only different, her groggy mind supplied. The stone walls and ceiling certainly looked familiar enough, but it was too dark to see much else.

Giving up on attempting to move any further, the pain from her back and neck too much, she sighed, already irritated at her lack of mobility, and instead decided to take stock of her physical condition. Not much else to do seeing as there wasn't anyone one about to ask and she couldn't exactly get up.

_Well, my back certainly feels like I've been run over by the Knight bus a few times. Then like I was dumped on some hot coals just in case the bus didn't quite do the trick_, she thought to herself glumly. She could vaguely remember someone yelling at her to get down, but being too slow to respond, she caught the full force of whatever curse had been sent her way and rapidly her world had gone black. She could remember no more, no matter how hard she tried to think, and promptly gave up as her head started to throb.

Licking her lips, and then pulling a face as she realised how dry and foul- tasting her mouth was, Hermione closed her eyes and tentatively tried to wiggle her toes. _Best to start slow, I suppose..._

"Ow," she said aloud, her voice coming out at nothing more than a hoarse whisper. Trying to move her toes seriously hurt and sent shock waves of spasms up her calf muscles. "Won't be trying that again," she mumbled.

Next on her list were her fingers, but once more this resulted in nasty contractions up her arms and made her muscles jump and twitch in her back. "Not good," she whispered, gasping for breath as her chest tightened further. Her muscles seemed to be in a cramp-like state and she felt herself getting dizzy as she fought against her tightening muscles to try and breathe. Her vision began to cloud and she panicked.

"Oh, no you don't," came a voice from somewhere to one side of Hermione. She felt a jab of what she dazedly assumed must be a needle and quickly her muscles begin to relax enough for her to be able to take in a deep gulp of air.

Turning her head slightly, Hermione could make out the silhouette of a woman – a Healer, her mind helpfully told her - and opened her mouth to speak.

"Shh, don't even try, Miss Granger. You're in no condition right now and I'm sorry you woke up. You're meant to be sedated for at least another two or three days so we can sort out the worst of the nerve damage." There was a pause as the Healer fiddled with something Hermione couldn't see. "Now, this will send you right back to sleep, Miss Granger. You'll be fine, you'll see."

Hermione's eyes went wide at the thought of being knocked out without the chance to ask any questions. Even though she'd been thinking predominantly about the pain she was in since waking up, she still wanted to know what had happened – what might _still_ be happening! "But, I need to..." she began, her voice coarse and her throat tense and sore.

"Everything is well, Miss Granger," the Healer said calmly. Her tone was warm, but held an undercurrent of authority. "We won. It's over – at least the fighting is, anyway. The recovery, however..." She stopped suddenly, her tone turning more serious as she realised she wasn't doing her job. "Don't fret, Miss Granger, we won. What is important now is that you rest and heal." Pulling what Hermione slowly realised was her wand out of her apron, the Healer cast a sleeping spell, adjusted the covers around Hermione and left the room.

Hermione had brief seconds to wish she could have asked about the others – all of them – before she fell into a slumber, her breathing regular, even, and pain free.

x.x.x.x

"Is Miss Granger okay?" Poppy asked as the Healer slipped into the hospital wing's office and sat down on a vacant chair with an exchausted sigh.

"She is well. Or at least she will be. She was awake and I think she'd tried moving which, of course, triggered a spasm in her chest and lungs."

Poppy nodded and wrote a note on a small square of parchment on her desk. "I'll have to increase her monitoring, I think. She seems to come out of the enchanted sleep faster than most, regardless of who casts the spell and how much effort is put into it. We need to keep her asleep until the potions for her burns and nerves have done the majority of their work." Poppy moved a few pieces of paper about on her desk, checking her notes. "Another two days at least, according to the specialist," she added with a sigh.

The Healer opposite, a witch with short brown hair and a sweet smile named Anne, opened her mouth to add something when the fire in the office flashed green, indicating a Floo caller.

"I'll go check on the main wing," Anne said wearily, standing up with a quiet groan. "I hope that's the people at Mungo's telling you that they've finally found another Healer to come help us. I feel like I've gone ten rounds with a bludger right now."

Poppy smiled and rubbed a hand over her face as she moved to kneel in front of the fire. "So do I, Anne. I think I'll sleep for a month once our charges are well enough. Thank you, I'll be out to help with rounds once I've dealt with this."

Anne nodded and left the office, closing the door with a quiet click as she did. Poppy put her glasses on and knelt before the fireplace, answering the Floo call with a weary 'hello'.

"Madam Pomfrey," said a senior Healer from Mungo's, urgently. "We've found one of yours."

"One of mine?" Poppy asked, confused for a moment. It was late and she was running on two hours of cat-naps, if that. "You mean a student?"

"No, no, Order member. Well, we think."

"Oh!" Poppy exclaimed, her hand rushing to her mouth. "Well how is she or he?"

"He's not in a very good condition, but he's stable. Would you be able to take him? I know you're full to bursting, but, well, he's a registered werewolf and as much as I personally don't have issue with it, other patients might. We just don't have the room to isolate him at the moment." The man looked repentant, as if he hated to have to ask such a thing.

Poppy sat back on her heels, shocked. _Remus was alive!_ "Yes, we'll take him," she replied immediately, quickly working out that they could fit him in... just about. "I'll sort out the paperwork on our end. How are we going to transfer him?"

"Medi-Stable Portkey's going to be the only way with his injuries, Madam," the Healer said with a frown. "Great Hall?"

Poppy nodded and stood up. Moving to her desk and finding the appropriate form she quickly jotted down the information necessary. A quick signature later and she passed it through the Floo to the Healer. "There, that's the approval. Shall we say in an hour then?"

The Healer blew out a breath, his head briefly disappearing from the Floo for a second as he checked with someone, before he answered. "Yes, one hour from now. Thank you." The man disappeared from the Floo with a wan smile and the Floo connection closed.

x.x.x.x

Inhaling deeply, Remus groaned as his ribs protested and he tentatively rolled onto his right side, finding the ache a little better once he had. _That was one rough transformation,_ he thought to himself as he brought a hand to rub at his still-closed eyes. As he moved he realised with a start that he was covered by a blanket and that the 'ground' wasn't hard... it was actually quite soft.

Jerking upright, confused and wary, he stopped short as his ribs made themselves known. Painfully.

"Ow, shit," he gasped, pressing at his side in a vain attempt to stop the pain. "Ow, ow, ow, ow..." Slowly he lay back down, once more upon his right (mostly pain-free) side, taking in his surroundings as he did.

He was at Hogwarts. That much was obvious. The stone walls and the arched window to the left of his bed that he could just see over his shoulder meant he could be nowhere else. But he didn't recognise the room. He was in the hospital wing. He could tell that much from the view he could just about see from the window, but the room itself wasn't one he'd been in before; and over the years, he'd been in the hospital enough times to assume he'd seen them all.

"Huh," he said aloud. Taking in the rest of the room, which from the way his bed was placed was all on his right, he found his view was cut short by a white screen that seemed to run down the middle of the room. Not quite cutting the small room completely in half, it had a gap, near the wall that ran behind the head of his bed. He could see a door leading, he assumed, into the rest of the hospital wing.

Half wondering if that meant this was a shared room, he dropped his head back onto the pillow and gently held a hand over his ribs. He speculated how many were broken and why they were still so tender. If there was one advantage to being a werewolf, it was that broken bones usually tended to mend fast... though not always straight. And failing that, there was always Skelegrow or variations thereof. Which begged the question; why was he laid up in the hospital wing with still-broken ribs?

Confused and more than a little drained, Remus scratched at his jaw finding he had more than a modest amount of five o'clock shadow working its way over his chin.

_Just as itchy as I remember,_ he thought to himself as he wished he had his wand handy to get rid of it. A glance at the small bedside cabinet told him it wasn't there, and it would probably be a bad idea anyway. Moving his hand back towards his ribs, Remus stalled. His skin... it was... _white_. He looked like he'd never seen the sun in his life and... yes, there... as he looked closely he could see his veins and arteries, on the inside of his wrist. The colour was wrong though, they were black. Which, to Remus, could only mean one thing.

Remus closed his eyes and slowly burrowed himself further under the blankets, realising with a shock that he was actually rather cold and that now he knew just exactly why that was.

He remembered now.

He'd been poisoned. Stabbed to be precise.

With a silver hand.

By Peter thrice-damned bloody Pettigrew.

x.x.x.x

Waking up a second time, Hermione was wary. As she came to, she was careful not to move too much and slowly opened her eyes, blinking wearily in the half-light in the room. Out of the corner of her eye, not moving her head, she could see some privacy screens and through them the light that streamed in from the window on the other side.

She wasn't sure, but she thought she was in a different area from to the last time she'd woken up. The ceiling and the walls still looked the same, but she wasn't as central in the room now and the presence of a screen made her wonder if she was no longer alone. Not that she knew whether or not she had been alone the last time.

She lay there for a while mulling things over in her mind before, growing impatient. She moved her head ever so slightly towards the screens, finding that although her neck was still sore, the movement was nowhere near as painful as before. She smiled, relived at the small achievement.

"Ah, you're awake, Miss Granger," said Poppy coming into the room, her arms full of various bottle and jars which she began arranging on the bedside table as she spoke. "Now don't move for a few more moments, I want to be sure of your condition before we try anything, okay?"

Hermione smiled and replied, "okay." Her voice barely a whisper.

"Well now, it's good to see you awake and coherent at last," Poppy said in her reassuring tone as she set the last of her load down on the bedside table. "We've been ever so worried these last weeks, Hermione. The combination of curses inflicted upon your person was most unusual and created more than a few problems in how we set about your treatment."

"W...weeks?!" Hermione stuttered, as loud as she could manage. It came out as a hoarse cry.

It had been weeks? Hermione had only thought it had been days, one week at most. Her mind had stopped listening to Poppy at that point, that one little word repeating over and over in her head.

_Weeks!?_

"Oh, yes. It's been about three weeks give or take a day. You were found in Diagon Alley, just after everything was officially finished and You-Know-Who, sorry, _Voldemort_, was finally defeated by young Mr Potter."

Hermione just blinked, too stunned at the news that it had been weeks to form a coherent response straight away. _But, how could... weeks? I don't remember going to Diagon Alley... the last thing I remember was running... I... weeks!?_

"Now then, let's get you sorted, shall we?" Poppy said, bringing her out of her thoughts sharply. "I'll get you some water once we're done."

"Oh, I suppose," Hermione replied, eyeing the bedside table-full of bottles warily. "Are those all for me?"

Poppy smiled, her hands on her hips, and nodded with a tilt of her head. "But let's see if we can get you sitting a little more upright first, shall we?"

x.x.x.x

Licking her lips, Hermione pulled a face at the realisation that she'd gone almost four weeks without brushing her teeth properly. It had been bad enough before, while the battle was ongoing and she'd not been able to do it for four days... but four weeks? _Ugh._ Spells were all well and good, and Poppy had obliged readily when she'd asked for one, but they didn't quite give you that nice clean feeling that a brush did... not to mention they lacked the minty-fresh taste.

Poppy had heaped numerous potions and unguents on Hermione, all the while talking as she did so, giving Hermione a roundabout update on how things outside the four walls were going. She'd been in and out in less than ten minutes, leaving with a small smile and a short explanation that they were more than a little short-staffed. Even Hermione noticed how run off her feet she looked.

Hermione was all too willing to take the nasty-tasting concoctions, overjoyed by the fact that she could sit up without too much pain now. A quickly administered pain relief potion had taken the edge off the spasms still running up and down her legs and arms and, although it still hurt, Hermione wasn't going to complain. Poppy had explained that her nerves were raw and regrowing in her extremities and that they should be less painful in about a week.

"Now, I'll be back in an hour," Poppy said, poking her head around the doorway that Hermione could see from her bed. "No getting out of bed and I expect there to still be water in that cup when I get back. No gulping it down. Your stomach won't be able to take it just yet," she added, pointing to the small non-spill cup in Hermione's hands.

Hermione nodded. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," she said, her voice still rough, but vastly improved. "Oh, before you go, may I ask something?"

"Yes, dear, what is it?"

"Am I alone in here?" she said, gesturing to the screens with a wary lift of her hand from her lap.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Poppy exclaimed, her eyes wide. "How silly of me. No you aren't, Miss Granger. Sorry, but space is at a premium at the moment and I had to alter the arrangement of the room to fit someone else in. It's Remus Lupin actually," she said, smiling warmly in that direction, through the gap between the screens and the wall at that end of the room.

"Remus? But we all thought he was..." Hermione trailed off, unwilling to say the dreaded D word. Her mind was still trying to catch up with all that had happened.

"Yes, I know, dear. But apparently not. He was sent here from Mungo's. Once they knew of his condition they weren't able to keep him with things the way they are. Normally he'd have his own room, but they are even busier that we are. He's not very well at the moment, but he's improving every day," Poppy reassured her.

"Can you move the screens? If that's okay, I mean. I don't want to intrude on his privacy or anything..."

Poppy looked unsure for a moment, but then relented, nodding and drawing her wand out of her apron. Both of her patients had been to hell and back and while Remus was still sleeping for now, he would wake up soon – albeit for only a short time, knowing how bad his poisoning was – and at least then they could talk and support each other.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said as she watched the screens shrink down to the size of a book and levitate over to the far corner of the room, out of the way.

"Poppy," she corrected, slipping her wand back into her apron. "Just Poppy, please."

Hermione smiled and tenderly settled back on her bed a little more, watching Remus sleep as her eyelids started to droop. She fell asleep to the sound of Remus' light snoring.

x.x.x.x

Remus groaned as he woke up, wondering for a few moments why his side hurt so much, before things came back to him.

_Oh. Yeah. That._

Moving a hand through his hair as if to try and shake the sleepiness away, Remus opened his eyes to see that the screens had been moved and he could now see the other side of the room. It contained a bed and in it Hermione Granger, who was staring at him, smiling widely.

"Afternoon, Remus," she said softly, putting the thin book she'd been holding to one side of her blanket-covered legs.

Remus smiled a little and blinked, looking around the room once more before moving his gaze back to her. "Afternoon, Miss Granger," he said as he cautiously used one arm to lever himself into a more upright position, his other arm holding onto his chest as if it would collapse if he didn't.

"Hermione."

"Sorry?" Remus said, refocusing his gaze on her.

"Hermione. We've had this discussion before, Remus," she said in a slightly sing-song tone. "Remember that? Back at Grimmauld Place... that evening in the library?" Hermione's cheeks turned a little pink as she explained.

Remus smiled and dipped his head for a moment. "Yes, I remember, Hermione." Finally in a more upright position that would dare to call half-comfortable, Remus tenderly moved his hand over his ribs again, trying to ascertain just how many were broken. "Ow."

"What?" Hermione said, worry painfully evident in her voice. "Do you need Poppy?"

"Well, I suppose I should talk to her seeing as I haven't actually spoken to her or anyone else in... in... I don't know how long." He grit his teeth as he found another _very_ sore spot and stopped testing, figuring it would be easier to just ask Poppy.

He watched as Hermione reached out carefully to the bedside table on her left, aiming for a small enchanted brass bell and biting her lip in what looked to be pain. She had almost grasped it when her arm jerked and it fell to the floor. She sighed and frowned, turning back to him with a small shrug. "Well, that should get her attention."

The bell, Remus knew from previous visits to the hospital wing, was linked to another set of bells in the office of the hospital, each one signifying a particular room or patient. Ringing it, per se, wasn't necessary, it was just movement that was required to activate the spell and bring the healer on duty to the room.

Remus settled as much as he could against the flattened pillows behind him. "So, uh, what day is it?" he asked, feeling more than a little silly to have to do so.

"Wednesday the fourth I believe Poppy said."

Remus frowned. _The fourth? That doesn't make sense. That means I've been... well, who knows where, for over a month. What about the full moon? That should have been almost a week ago... six days... Merlin I hope I didn't...._ Looking back towards Hermione he noticed her watching him, concern etched on her brow. _She always has been such a worrier._

"Remus?"

Remus smiled at her, wanly. He was almost ready to fall asleep again and the only thing that was keeping him from doing so now was his anxiety about what he could have done in the last full moon. It was awful enough when he knew that that time of the month approached, but to not even remember that knocked him off kilter... he hated it.

"Oh, Remus, glad to see you in the land of the living," Poppy said with a smile as she entered the room at full speed. She was at his bedside in a blink of an eye, fluffing up his pillows and slowly guiding him onto them properly. "Now then, let's see how you are, shall we?"

Remus gently lifted his hand from his ribs and grimaced as Poppy nodded in confirmation of the question written all over his face. "Yes, I'm afraid you've got three broken ribs there, Remus. I'm not sure we're going to be able to do anything about them until we have that nasty silver out of your system which is something else we can't do anything about but wait, unfortunately."

"Well, I've made it this far..." he said slowly, resigned once again to the fact that his affliction made things like this a hundred times more difficult. "Poppy I have to ask, the last thing I recall was over a month ago... Hermione said it was the fourth." As he spoke, he made to sit up; gasping as his ribs once again reminded him sharply of their presence.

"Calm down, Remus," Poppy chided him, pushing his shoulder back gently onto the pillow and grasping his arm, taking his pulse at the wrist. "Yes, you've missed the full moon, but the report I have from Mungo's is that you were found on your own inside a collapsed building of sorts. You were unconscious when they found you and apart from waking once – you were delirious may I add – you haven't been awake since they brought you here. You were found four days ago. I dare say that if you did change, the wolf would have been in just as bad a condition as you now find yourself in, if not worse. I think it's safe to assume you didn't do any harm."

Remus nodded, accepting the news with Poppy's matter-of-fact tone and stern glare. She knew from the past how guilt-ridden he could become if things didn't go to plan, and the sooner she got it straight in his mind the better.

Straightening the blankets around Remus, Poppy cast a few refreshing and cleaning charms before retrieving another pillow from the store room outside. "Here," she said, helping him move slowly to accommodate it.

"Now, back to sleep with you, Remus. If your body says sleep, listen to it and do so." Poppy turned and left, sparing a quick warm glance at Hermione and a flick of her wand to return the bell to the bedside table.

Resigned, Hermione picked up the book she'd been re-reading and turned to where she had left off. "Talk soon, Remus," she said, belatedly wishing she'd asked Poppy for a quill so she could correct the out-dated book in her hands.

"Mm, yes...tk'soon," Remus mumbled into the pillow as he quickly fell into a deep sleep.

x.x.x.x

Hermione's fingers grasped the edges of the bed tightly, the sheet bunching in her fingers as she fought the urge to yell out. "Ow, ow, ow," she whispered, the mantra reverberating around her head at a much louder volume.

"Now there you go, all done, dear," Poppy said from where she stood at the end of the bed, as she put Hermione's foot back down onto the sheets carefully.

Hermione slowly rolled over onto her back and breathed out a sigh of relief at the thought that soon enough she wouldn't have to go through this any more. Poppy had explained that she'd been having general physiotherapy on her arms and legs since she had been brought to the hospital wing. However as she'd been in an enchanted sleep with pain relieving charms, she hadn't felt it. Now she was improving the sleep spell wasn't necessary... and unfortunately neither was the stronger pain relief.

"I know it hurts, dear, but we have to keep your muscles used to the movement. And soon enough your new nerves will calm down and it won't hurt so much."

Hermione nodded as she tentatively made to sit up. "How long do you think it will be before that is?"

Poppy tilted her head in thought for a moment and then shrugged. "I could make a guess, but it's really nothing certain. Your case isn't exactly routine, so to speak. I wish I could give you something stronger for the pain as well, but that can desensitise new nerves and I don't want to do any damage that could be permanent."

"It's okay, Poppy, I understand," Hermione said with a wsmall sigh. Sat upright now, she gently tensed and stretched her hands and feet, wincing as spasms occasionally jolted through them. Lifting her head, she saw Poppy readying to leave the room again, so spoke up. "Can you move the screens again, please? That is if you're finished with us both for today?"

Poppy nodded her head smiling and whipped out her wand, moving the screens as she had before.

"Thank you, Poppy. It's nice to know I'm not alone in here, if that makes sense. Even if he is asleep all the time."

"I can sympathise, Hermione," was all Poppy said, before leaving the room, the door pulled half shut as normal.

Hermione sat quietly for a few moments, just staring into space as her mind jumped from one topic to another, before landing on the one that seemed in the forefront of her mind right now.

Remus.

_Well, obviously_, she thought to herself, mentally rolling her eyes. _What with him being in the same room as you!_

Turning her head to the far side of the room, she watched him as he slept. The slow rise and fall of his chest and the way he frowned slightly as he slept was oddly relaxing and over the last couple of days, since the screens had been moved, she'd often fallen asleep, lulled by the quiet peace and light snores coming from Remus.

After they thought they'd lost him, she'd been devastated, and she knew Harry, Ginny and some of the others had been a little perplexed at her strong reaction. As much as they all missed and loved him, Hermione had felt the loss much more deeply. She'd always felt that there was something more than just friendship between herself and Remus, but Harry and Ginny hadn't known that at the time. None of the others had.

_Not that anything had actually happened_, Hermione thought to herself, regretfully. _But it was more that it_ could _have. That the possibility of something more between us was always there._

Possibility. That was it. There had always been an undertone of something more between them and Hermione was certain he felt and knew of it, too.

Their conversations for example, might have been boring to the outsider, but to her – and hopefully Remus – it was sometimes as if there were two discussions taking place. The one being voiced aloud... and the one in the words left unsaid.

He'd been there for her after Ron, as well. The others had too, of course, but it was different with Remus. When they had talked, it had let her forget what had happened, even if only for a short while. He'd been rather protective of her, too, getting rid of the others when she was stressed out and wanting quiet. Not to mention what he'd said to Ron that time...

Then later, but not later enough for any of them, when things with the war had picked up pace, he'd still been there. A constant for her, in the changing, stressful and often horrifying war they were all right in the middle of. Every Wednesday, when they could, they'd sit in the library together. Most times they just sat just reading their own books in a peaceful quiet and then, on other occasions, when it was all too much, they would talk. About anything and everything that came to mind.

Hermione sighed and rubbed her eyes, feeling tired once again. _I hate sleeping all the time_, she complained to herself, even as she shuffled further under the covers, feeling like she'd just run a marathon.

She lay on her side, facing Remus and let her mind drift back to the last conversation she'd had with him before he'd left for his mission. The last time she thought she'd seen him alive...

_"Take care, Remus," she said, pulling on the sleeve of her jumper a nervous fingers._

_"I will, Hermione," Remus replied, a small smile playing upon his lips. It didn't quite meet his eyes, Hermione saw and she knew it was because, regardless of outside appearances, he was frightened, too._

_Hermione stepped forward and closed the gap between them in the quiet hallway outside the library. It was late; most everyone was asleep in their own beds or out on assignment for the Order. They'd said their goodbyes to Remus earlier._

_Hugging him, Hermione's heart soared when his arms came around her and pulled her to him, tightly. His head came down and she smiled into his worn Muggle coat as she felt his lips on the top of her head._

_"See you soon," she said, pulling back yet wishing she didn't have to. She didn't want to let him go._

_"Yes, soon," he agreed, his eyes meeting hers as he moved back slowly. Time seemed to pause for a moment as his hand came up to cup her cheek, dropping it as a noise from a second floor bathroom startled them both and broke the illusion that they were the only two living beings on the planet._

x.x.x.x

"Merlin I'm bored," Remus said as he lay back on his bed, staring once more at the ceiling above him. Picking off another grape from the small bunch on the bed by his leg, he chewed and swallowed it quickly. Everything tasted like sand to him still, the silver still running through his veins ruining his taste buds and ultimately his enjoyment of food.

"Me, too," Hermione echoed from the other side of the room. He heard her sigh and throw down the book she'd been flicking through. "Want to look at this again?" she said, pointing to the book now lying on the far end of her bed.

Remus lifted his head – something that was easier to do now his ribs had finally deigned themselves to begin knitting back together somewhat – and curled his lip at the book she was pointing to. "Ugh, no. '_Uses of Moonstone in Healing Potions_' is something I can only read once; never mind a fourth time, Hermione."

She laughed and he smiled at her, moving carefully so he was sitting up and leaning against his pillows. Poppy had kindly given him a few more over the last day or two to support him better now that he was awake for longer periods of time. "How about a game?" he suggested.

"Alright. No tag though, I'm a bit rough around the edges for that at the moment," Hermione said as she retied her hair back from her face, her tone light. "Plus I've no doubt that Poppy would kill us if she came in to find us running about in these hospital pyjamas and no shoes."

"Too right she would," Remus agreed. The corners of his mouth curled up in amusement as he imagined the look of horror and irritation on her face if she did. "Now I can't think of what to play though, any ideas? Eye spy seems a bit boring and I can't think of anything else at the moment." He looked over at her as he spoke, watching her battle with the few tendrils of hair that had escaped her attempts at capture.

He gazed at her as she bit her lip and frowned in thought as she battled with one last strand. Over the last few days, since he'd woken up that first time, he'd noticed that she did the lip-biting thing quite frequently and he'd begun to find it a bit... distracting.

"No," she replied, looking up. "It would help if one of us had a wand, that way we could play cards or something, I guess."

Picking up his water cup, Remus took a few sips and as he put it back onto the bedside cabinet, his eyes fell on the bell Poppy had given him once he'd woken up. "We could ask Poppy," he suggested with a shrug, not taking his eyes off the bell. "She said no last time, but at least it'd give us something to do."

"What, irritating Poppy?" Hermione said with an impish grin.

"Or the other one, Anne," Remus replied. "If we keep asking for something to do, they have to give in soon enough, right?"

Hermione snorted and shook her head. "Poppy I'm not so sure on, but Anne might. It'll prove interesting, anyway. I'm going out of my mind – no offence, Remus. Being stuck in a room with you isn't bad, but not being able to get out of this bloody bed is..." she trailed off, looking up at him with a grimace.

Remus tilted his head in acknowledgement and smiled at her. "Maddening? In another situation, Hermione, being stuck in a room with you would be my idea of a good time," he said, flashing her a grin. She blinked at him for a few seconds, and Remus thought maybe he'd pushed a bit too far, but then she turned a bit pink in the cheeks and smiled back at him.

Unwilling to let it get awkward because of his comment, Remus smiled at her again and picked up the bell, ringing it once before dropping it back onto the cabinet top.

"My turn first," he said, finishing just as Poppy entered the room at a brisk pace.

"Well, what's the matter?" she said, hands on her hips, looking at the both of them in turn. Hermione pointed to Remus without a word.

"We're bored, Poppy," Remus answered her with a whine and a slight flutter of his eyelashes.

Poppy rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Well you're in hospital, Remus. You too, Hermione. You're not in here for entertainment; you're here for rest and healing." She sighed and cast a spell on the windows in the room, opening them just a crack and letting a little fresh, warm summer air into the room. Putting her wand back into her apron pocket she brushed her uniform off and gave them both a serious look. "Rest. Heal. Sleep." She left the room with a shake of her head and Remus flopped _gently_ back into his pillows with a sigh.

"Well, then," Hermione said, catching his attention. "My turn in an hour?"

He winked at her and she grinned back. It was on.

x.x.x.x

Hermione took a mouthful of the not-quite-cold water from the mug from her bedside table. She was happy at that – not that it was not-quite-cold, but that she'd progressed well enough that she was onto a mug now instead of a non-spill cup. A cup that looked _very_ much like a Muggle toddler's drink cup would, she'd noticed.

Quietly placing the cup back on the bedside cabinet, she felt around in the dim light coming from the doorway, trying to find her tissue. Just her luck to get hay fever this year.

It was late, after midnight according to Anne who'd been in to check on them about an hour or so ago, and once again Hermione was wide awake. _That's the problem with sleeping in hospitals. No one to tell you what the time is and then you're awake in the middle of the night with nothing to do and no one to speak to_, she thought glumly, rolling over in bed once again to try and get comfortable enough to doze.

Her eyes were just beginning to droop when she heard it; a small cry, almost a gasp. Sitting up quietly, now wide awake, she looked over towards Remus' bed – not that she could see anything, the light from the doorway was too dim for that.

There it was again.

_Definitely Remus_, she told herself, wondering what to do. It wasn't like she needed to sleep, so Remus keeping her awake wasn't an issue. She just hated the thought that he was having a nightmare and she couldn't do a thing about it. _Plus if he moves or jolts, his ribs aren't going to be very happy and he'll be sore in the morning._

He whimpered this time, louder than before, and Hermione frowned. He was definitely having a nightmare, she was sure.

"Remus?" she said aloud, into the darkness of the room.

No answer came, but Hermione waited. Then another cry, this time louder. She could hear movement from his side of the room, as if he was moving restlessly under the sheets. It was warm in the room, the summer heat from the day lasting all through the night, and Hermione was laid out on top of her covers, unlike Remus who, still suffering the effects of the silver poisoning, was still icy cold a lot of the time.

Sighing, Hermione turned back towards her bedside table and rang the bell once, quickly, hoping that Poppy or Anne would come and cast a dreamless-sleep charm on him. _Not as effective as the potion, but better than suffering a nightmare_.

Laying there for what seemed like an age, Hermione counted to a hundred in her head. Then did it again. And then a third time.

Still no one came, and Remus was still crying out, mumbled words carrying over to where Hermione lay awake, staring up at the darkened ceiling.

_I know they're busy, but couldn't they just come in and check?_ Hermione wondered to herself. She sat up, scooting down her bed so she was sat at the end, her legs over the edge, toes barely touching the floor. _Come on, come on,_ she resolved within the confines of her mind.

Waiting for another count, this time to three hundred, Hermione looked from the door to Remus' bed and back again. It wasn't that far, surely. It's not like she couldn't walk over to it and back. Right?

Checking the door again, Hermione stood carefully, grasping the bedstead for support as she put her full body weight on the muscles and nerves in her legs. It hurt, spasms firing up her legs towards her stomach like those magical fireworks Fred and George had once made,but when Remus cried out 'No!' she straightened her spine and took her first steps towards his bed.

"Ow, dammit, ow," she said through clenched teeth as she closed the gap between them. A small part of her mind was yelling at her to stop, that it was too far and it hurt too much, but she disregarded it. Remus' comfort was first and foremost in her mind right now.

She reached the end of his bed finally with three quick last steps and carefully sat on the end of it, lifting her feet from the floor in relief.

_Poppy was right about my extremities being the last to heal_, she thought dimly, tentatively flexing her toes.

Remus shifted and she brought her mind to the task at hand. Carefully moving, and standing once more, she moved up one side of his bed until she could perch on the edge roughly level with his hips. Putting one hand on his shoulder, she was relieved to see him quieten straight away, tense muscles relaxing under her hand.

She smiled and remained there for a few moments, her hand rubbing small circles on his arm and shoulder gently before she realised her own predicament.

Her feet _really_ hurt and they weren't even touching the floor at the moment. _I don't think I'll make it back to my bed walking. Crawling perhaps, but not walking. Bugger._

Looking around for another option, Hermione decided it would first be a good idea to get towards the end of Remus' bed and thus closer to her own. _Except for that gaping sodding distance called the floor._

She shuffled, slowly and carefully, constantly checking Remus for any signs that she'd disturbed him, until she was sat on the bottom half of the bed, looking with some amusement at the fact that Remus was asleep curled up. _He must sleep in a ball when his ribs aren't broken_.

Assessing her situation, Hermione could only think of crawling as an option... and it didn't appeal. Her knees might not hurt at the moment, unlike her poor feet, but they would after traversing the hard stone floor.

_Damn. Should have thought this one out a little more, Hermione._ Looking around, Hermione realised that until Poppy or Anne came in to check on her, or she braved the floor again before that, she was stuck on the end of Remus' bed.

_At least he sleeps curled up, leaves me some room,_ she thought to herself as she carefully moved her legs onto the bed. Curling up as small as she could, she carefully lay down on the end of the bed, glad that the heat of the room negated the need for a blanket.

She'd just have to wait it out.

x.x.x.x

Continued (and concluded) in part two. It will be up as soon as I have time to sort out the formatting/coding. Please review and let me know what you think, it encourages the muse to let me write more! :)


	2. Part Two

A/N: This is second and final part of this fic, written for the rlhg exchange on livejournal, '09. :)

Disclaimer: All you recognise belongs to JKR and associates. All you do not, is mine. No profit is made from this fanfiction.

Part Two

_x.x.x_

Hermione yawned, a hand moving to briefly rub at one eye as she slowly came back to the land of the living before carefully trying to sit up somewhat, the crick in her neck beyond uncomfortable. _Damn, how did I do that–_ her thoughts cut off as she finally opened her eyes to find Remus sat at the head of the bed, a bemused look on his face.

"Morning," he said simply, tilting his head in question. "Your bed catch fire, did it?"

"Er, yes?" Hermione said, sleepily moving to the edge of the bed and letting her feet dangle over the edge. It relieved the ache she had in her knees. Turning, she smiled at him and shrugged. "You were having a nightmare last night."

"I was?"

"Well, I assume that's what it was. I tried to call Poppy or Anne, but no one came... so I ended up walking from my bed to yours to see what I could do." She ran a hand through her hair, fingers catching on the snarls and making her eyes water as she pulled too hard.

"Oh," Remus said, brow drawing together in thought. "I don't remember. Sorry. I was loud, I guess?"

Hermione turned on the bed to face him properly, smiling in reassurance. "Well a little, but don't worry. I was more concerned with you moving and doing more damage to your ribs, to be honest."

Remus nodded and Hermione watched as his hand drifted up to his chest, covering his ribs for a moment before dropping back to the bed. _I'd forgotten what his hands were like..._ she thought, eyes watching with interest as he smoothed out the sheets with his palms.

"Thank you, Hermione," Remus finally said, catching her attention and drawing it away from his hand. "Though I'm still wondering why you were sleeping at the bottom of my bed."

"Oh, my feet hurt too much from walking over so I, um, sort of curled up and went to sleep while I waited for Poppy or Anne to come to check on us," she explained. Looking around the room, Hermione guessed neither of them had been in, which was odd. "I guess they forgot about us or something."

Remus shrugged and moved from under the sheets until he was sitting next to Hermione, feet over the edge of the bed. "This is nice," he said quietly, stretching his legs out and wiggling his toes in the air.

Hermione smiled from her seat next to his, her eyes moving and hesitantly meeting his own as he turned to look at her.

_Oh,_ she thought dimly as neither of them moved, eyes holding one another's gazes. _What should I... Ohh._ Hermione's mind went blissfully blank as Remus' hand came up to cup her cheek at the same time that he closed the distance between their mouths, lips grazing hers for a long moment. Pulling back he dropped his and resumed his observation of his feet.

"That was nice too," he added, bumping his shoulder with hers gently.

Hermione could feel her cheeks going red and mentally cursed her blood vessels, biting her lip as she tried to think of something to say that didn't sound stupid. "Yes," she finally settled for, figuring honesty was best. "It was." She smiled at him again and leant her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes for a brief moment before a voice at the doorway made them snap open.

"Well," Poppy said as she walked into the room, hands on her hips in a typical 'I'm not happy, my charges are misbehaving' posture Hermione had seen once when Harry had legged it from the hospital wing before she had had the chance to force some foul-tasting potion on him.

"Morning, Poppy," Remus said from beside her, his tone all cheer. "Hermione's been naughty."

Hermione blinked and stared at Remus, mouth open in shock. "What-but... you!" she stuttered, head whipping round to look at Poppy. "I haven't!"

Poppy rolled her eyes at the both of them, and moved over to Hermione. "Well, let's see if you can get back now into your own bed first, shall we?" she asked, shifting to try and wrap an arm around Hermione.

"I'll help her," Remus said, as Poppy moved to slide an arm around Hermione's waist. Poppy paused and shook her head.

"As much as I'm sure you want to, Remus, I don't think you'd get very far right now."

Remus sighed, shoulders drooping in defeat. "Fine, fine."

Poppy helped Hermione up, supporting most of her weight as Hermione took careful steps towards her own bed. "Doesn't hurt as much this morning as it did last night," she muttered under her breath as Poppy allowed her to take the last two steps under her own steam.

"What do you mean last night?!" Poppy exclaimed, looking back to Remus askance as Hermione settled herself back on top of her sheets. Remus just shrugged and Poppy turned back to Hermione, missing Remus' big grin.

"Oh, er, well you see..." Hermione began, wishing she'd kept her mouth shut.

x.x.x.x

"Got any fours?" Remus asked, peeking at Hermione from over the top of his hand of cards. He smirked when she pouted and passed two to him over the small gap between their beds.

It had taken them almost three days since the incident with Hermione waking up on Remus' bed, and a lot of bell ringing until Poppy finally broke down and gave them a pack of cards – the non-magical kind – and a chess set. It was apparently all she could get her hands on and while Hermione thought she was holding out on them, neither of them had complained, taking the chess set and the cards with big smiles and a 'thank you, Poppy!'

"Any queens?"

"Go fish."

In order to play without needing help they'd persuaded (nagged and cajoled) Anne to move Remus' bed over towards Hermione's. Scowling, she'd complied, but only because she'd learnt the hard way over previous days that Hermione and Remus were as thick as thieves and ten times more determined when it came to getting something they wanted. The rule that Anne had finally comprised on was that they could only have their beds that way between mid-morning and sometime early in the evening.

It was better than nothing.

"Sorry to break up your playtime, Hermione, Remus, but you have a couple of visitors," Poppy said cheerily as she entered the room, waving her wand and gathering up the cards, pocketing them before either Hermione or Remus could say a word about it.

"Visitors?" Hermione repeated dumbly as she watched Remus' bed glide over to the other side of the room once more. Poppy then carefully guided a still weak, but growing stronger every day, Remus back into it. One thing he'd refused to allow was to be levitated with his bed, arguing that the few steps were good for him after all the bed rest.

"Yes, visitors," Poppy said, smiling at her. "I figured that if you two are able to harangue me and Anne as much as you have then you're ready for them. Yes?"

Hermione nodded eagerly and looked over to Remus who looked a little unsure. "Remus?"

She watched as he ran a hand over his face, obviously tired. Even now that Poppy was beginning to treat what was remaining of the poisoning with potions, he still slept a lot. Albeit in shorter naps throughout the day rather than constantly. His skin was pinker, less ghost-like than it had been the first time she'd seen him and he'd become more like the man she'd known before all of this had happened. "Who is it, Poppy?" he asked, glancing to Hermione quickly before turning to face Poppy.

"It's Harry and Ginny," Poppy answered with a frown, looking at Remus. "I can say no, if you're not feeling up to it."

"No, no! It's fine. I'm just tired, as to be expected, Poppy," he reassured her with a wan smile. "Let them in, I'd like to see them. It's been a while."

Poppy straightened her apron and nodded at him, sparing a glance for Hermione as she left the room to go get their visitors.

Hermione was actually excited, if not a little nervous. Poppy had only told them generally what the outcome of the war had been and the casualties they'd suffered as she'd tended to both of them in the past few days. Anne had been decidedly tight-lipped about it all, and both had said they were too busy to fetch them a Daily Prophet, much to Hermione's frustration.

Hermione couldn't stop the wide smile from lighting up her face as Harry poked his head round the door frame, a Muggle balloon saying 'get well soon' bobbing in the air behind him.

"Harry!" she said, leaning forward in bed, to take his hand as he moved to her bedside. "I... I'm so glad you're alright!"

"I'm glad you will be, too, Hermione," Harry said softly, squeezing her hand a little too hard. Hermione pulled it out of his grasp with a wince, and a shake of her head at his small frown.

"Sorry, my nerves are still a bit sensitive to pressure," she explained, smiling at him reassuringly as he tied the balloon to the head of the bed frame for her. She saw he hadn't noticed Remus yet, so she poked at his shoulder until he got the idea and turned around.

"Remus!" he yelled, bounding over to the bed and then stopping short as he took in the colour of his skin. "God, you look so... pale."

Remus laughed, coughing a little as he did and wincing as he put strain on his still tender ribs.

"Harry, nice to see you, too. I'd hug you, but still healing ribs aren't conducive to that right now. I'm pale because of the silver poisoning. Don't worry," he added quickly as Harry took a few steps forward, worry imprinted upon his features, Hermione guessed from where she watched. "I'll be fine; it's just going to take a long while to get it all out of my system."

Harry let out an audible sigh of relief and perched on the edge of Remus' bed near his feet. "So what happened?"

Hermione turned away, having already heard how the rat Pettigrew had injured him and waved as an unsure Ginny peeped around the door frame, just as Harry had moments before. "Hey, Ginny," she said, beckoning her over.

"How are you?"

"I'll be okay," Hermione said quickly, not wanting to get into the rather long and sordid tale about her nerve damage. "How's things? How's your family? Poppy and the other Healer, Anne, don't really say much about what's going out outside these four walls and it's been driving me nuts."

Ginny took a deep breath and, sitting down on Hermione's bed near her feet, attempted a smile that Hermione saw didn't quite meet her eyes. "We lost dad, and Bill... and Percy," she said in hushed tones. Her hands were clasped together tightly and Hermione's heart went out to her. Reaching forward she put her hand over Ginny's and squeezed them as tightly as she could for a brief moment, ignoring the shot of pain up her arm in order to comfort her friend. "Oh, Gin."

"It's okay, Hermione. I mean... it isn't really, but... well, we still have mum and the others. We'll manage. Ron's-" she broke off looking up at Hermione, her eyes watery. "Sorry."

"Doesn't matter," Hermione said, squeezing her hand again. Ron was of no interest to her after everything that had happened, but a part of her was glad he was alive and well. Even if that was more for Harry and Ginny's sakes than her own. "How are things between you and Harry?" she asked, trying to change the topic away from the gloom and horror of the war.

Ginny looked over to Harry with a tender smile on her face that spoke volumes. "We're good. Found a nice flat just outside of London we like and we're thinking of moving in together. Though not for a while... we're still at the Burrow right now, helping mum."

Hermione nodded in understanding and moved back, resting on the pillows. "I can't wait to get out of here, Gin," she said as she tried to shift her legs a bit, they were getting a bit stiff from staying in bed all the time and she'd started trying to move them more and more. With Poppy's approval of course. "It took us three days before to _persuade_ Poppy to give us some cards to stave off the brain rot. It's so boring here most of the time."

"Oh, I don't know," Ginny said, a sly look coming over her face as she looked over to where Remus and Harry where still sat talking quietly. "Being stuck in a room with Remus doesn't sound all that bad if you ask me."

Hermione felt her cheeks turn pink and she ducked her head. "He said something along those lines a while ago," she admitted.

"Really?" Ginny said loudly, making Hermione's head shoot up and turn in the direction of Remus to find both him and Harry looking over at them suspicious. Ginny just shrugged and said loudly, "girl talk."

They both rolled their eyes and resumed their own conversation, though Hermione noticed Remus glancing over in their direction once or twice after that – much to her own enjoyment, she admitted to herself quietly.

Ginny giggled, a sound Hermione liked because it was cheerful and soothing after all the screams and heart ache they'd all been through. Even four weeks of enchanted sleep hadn't stopped her from having nightmares in recent days. What she saw made her retch if she thought too hard on it.

"Hermione, look, Poppy told me not to tell you too much, about everything that's happened. She said something about letting you find out in your own time, whatever that means.

"What I will tell you is that we're seeing this as a fresh start. Everyone is. We've all lost a lot, some more than others, and now that Voldemort and all he stands for is gone, it's time for a new beginning. It sounds trite in a way I suppose, but it's nice. Like when I was out near the shops, everyone was friendly, talking to each other and taking their time," she paused and Hermione kept quiet, not quite sure what to say.

Ginny looked over to Remus and Harry and Hermione followed her gaze. They were both sitting on Remus' bed, heads bent and Remus was speaking quickly and quietly about something.

"He likes you, doesn't he?" Ginny said softly. "I think you like him, too."

Hermione swallowed, and nodded, only speaking when she realised Ginny couldn't see her. "I think so, yes." Ginny turned her head and smiled at her, raising one eyebrow in question.

"Okay, yes!" Hermione said exasperated. "Yes."

Ginny's lips curled up in a smile, and Hermione couldn't help but do the same herself.

"He kissed me," Hermione said, finally glad to be able to tell someone.

"What! When?" Ginny said in an excited whisper, turning in her seat on the edge of Hermione's bed and shifting closer to her, her eyes wide with surprise. "Well? Come on, tell me!" she added, prodding Hermione's leg gently.

x.x.x.x

Putting the cards to one side, Remus rubbed his hands together in anticipation as Poppy brought in his first proper meal in weeks. He'd been eating small amounts of food, as instructed, but it had all tasted of sand. The poisoning had ruined his taste buds and they'd only just recently repaired themselves enough so that he could face something larger.

"Well, it certainly smells nice," Poppy said as she placed the tray in front of him, another levitating behind her for Hermione. Turning, she took it from mid-air and placed it onto the table for her. "Don't force it, Hermione," she added putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder for a moment. "Your stomach will still be a little fragile from the potions."

Remus smiled as Poppy took her leave and turned to Hermione. "I've missed this," he said as he picked up his cutlery.

"Missed what? Food?" Hermione asked, echoing his actions and draping her napkin over her knees in a habitual fashion.

"Well, yes, sort of. You know I've been eating a little, when I can, but it's tasted foul. What I've _really_ missed is Molly's cooking though."

Hermione licked her lips, having taken a small bite of the mashed potato on her plate when he was talking. "She is a splendid cook, I'll admit."

Taking a forkful of the mash and some beef, Remus didn't restrain his appreciative **'**Mmm'as it hit his tongue. _Merlin, that's good. _He smiled up at Hermione, fork still in his mouth and for a few moments neither of them spoke as they sat there enjoying their first home-cooked meal in weeks.

Molly had apparently Flooed Poppy late the very same evening after Harry and Ginny had been in. She had stated, in no uncertain terms, that they would be in need of something home-cooked and she volunteered for the job, refusing to take no for an answer.

Remus knew that normally Poppy would say otherwise, explaining that her 'patients' diet was well met already, thank you very much', but she'd obviously had a hard time saying no to the Weasley matriarch. After all she had lost in the war Remus didn't blame her. He didn't think he'd be able to allow himself to do so if he were in Poppy's shoes.

Molly was, according to Harry, overprotective and would fuss over to anyone and everyone she considered to be family. Fortunately for Remus, he was now considered part of the ever growing Weasley clan, despite the fact that they had lost more then a few to the war. Not that he minded at all, considering that he had never had a family to call his own. Harry had told him that it was Molly's way of coping, and he supposed that Poppy knew that too.

"I could go for some lemon meringue pie," Hermione said, breaking Remus away from his musings, as she set her knife and fork aside with a frown. "I hate not being able to eat as much as I want."

Remus swallowed his mouthful of carrots and gravy and took a sip of water, looking at Hermione's plate. She hadn't eaten much, no more than a third of it really. It was a shame, Molly's cooking was top-notch. Remus' stomach rumbled at the sight, catching Hermione's attention.

"Did your-" she cut off, gesturing with an amused glance at his stomach.

"Yep." He grinned, rubbing his stomach briefly with one hand and putting another mouthful of beef and mash into his mouth with the other. "Poppy said I'd be eating like a herd of Thestrals once the poisoning stopped messing with my sense of taste."

Hermione laughed and pushed her plate to the edge of her bed table, indicating he should take it. "Go on, don't waste it. It's good your appetite's back. I just wish I could eat more, it smells so nice, but seeing as I'm fit to burst I wouldn't want it to go to waste."

As he finished both his and Hermione's meals, he watched quietly as she did her regular stretching and testing of her hands and arms. Poppy had told her to do the exercises frequently to help with the healing of the nerves and to ensure they were sensitive enough and so on. Hermione had taken it very seriously and had finally been allowed to start taking very short walks to the around the room, under Poppy's supervision of course.

"Still hurt?" Remus asked as he finished up the last few bites of Hermione's meal more slowly than he'd eaten the rest.

"Not too much," Hermione admitted. He watched as she grasped the edge of the table with both hands using only her fingertips and thumbs, testing how much pressure she could use. "I think my hands are better than my feet because I've been using them much more."

"Makes sense," Remus agreed. He put her now empty plate back on her table and carefully moved both his table and hers so they were no longer above their legs on the beds. Moving further down his bed, so he was closer to Hermione, he was sat cross-legged and took her closest hand in his.

Brushing the skin on back of her hand with his fingertips, he looked up at her though lowered eyelids. "Does that hurt?" he asked, watching as she stared at their hands for a moment longer before answering, a blush grazing her cheeks.

"No."

He increased his pressure a little, drawing circles on her palm before moving his hand to lace their fingers together. "Now? Still okay?" he asked again, his eyes tracing her fingers as they meshed with his.

"Still good." He received in reply, her voice softer. Her hand tightened around his and he smiled.

Lifting her hand up, loosening his grip on it, he bent his head forward to press a kiss into the back of her hand, just above the knuckles. His ribs complained a little, but it was worth it.

"Still good?" he asked, lifting his eyes to meet hers. She blushed harder and smiled, moving her hand from his and up to brush his cheek gently

"We're definitely still good," she answered, brushing her fingertips over his lips gently before dropping her hand at the sound of a cough coming from the doorway.

"Poppy," Remus said jovially, moving back onto his bed properly. "Tell Molly the food was wonderful, can you? I haven't had anything so pleasant in a long while."

Poppy eyed the both of them for a second, something which amused Remus greatly, and then moved to take the trays out, without a word.

"Erm, oops?" He offered to a beet-red Hermione after she left. He grinned and took the cards out again, dealing them each a hand.

x.x.x.x

"Good afternoon, Minerva," Remus said cheerily, catching Hermione's attention. She'd been reading that god-awful book about Moonstone again, and had found herself in some sort of trance as she imagined what she'd say to the author should she ever meet him.

"Remus, Hermione," Minerva said, nodding to each of them with a smile. "I'm sorry I haven't been in to see you before now, but as you can guess I've been rather busy with Hogwarts preparations for the coming year as well as Order work."

"Oh, we're fine, Minerva," Remus said as Minerva took out her wand and transfigured an empty glass into a comfortable-looking settee. Minerva gave him a disbelieving look over the rim of her glasses as she settled into it. It was just at the right angle that she could see both Remus and Hermione without difficulty.

"Well, alright we are a bit bored," he added with a grin at Hermione. "There are only so many games you can play with cards and a chess set."

Minerva shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Why does that not surprise me? I heard about your bell-ringing ploy, young man."

Hermione laughed loudly at the same time Remus did and she smiled. Minerva looked at her askance. "Miss Granger?"

"Oh, I was in on it too, Professor," Hermione admitted, wiping at her eyes with a tissue she had taken from the never ending supply on her bedside table. The tone Minerva had used with Remus just then had been rather amusing, more like the strict professor she had once known.

Minerva shook her head disapprovingly, but Hermione saw the small grin she hid as she had ducked her head. Straightening up, she took off her glasses, cleaning them with a flick of her wand.

"Now then, to why I am here – not that I didn't want to visit you understand – but there is another reason. Poppy says that you will both be ready for discharge so long as you're somewhere that people can check in on you occasionally. I thought I would come and extend Hogwarts as an option."

"She did?" Hermione said dumbly, before thinking about it. "Sorry, Professor, it's just that this is the first we've heard of it."

"I know, Poppy said I could tell you. The other Healer who came from Mungo's to help with all the patients had to return this morning, and the poor dear is more than a little overwhelmed with trying to keep up. I spoke to her about half an hour ago and she said she would come and see you when she can."

Hermione nodded, understanding how busy she was. Apparently there were over forty patients in the main wings of the hospital, as well as a few others in the well-hidden side wards like this one.

"So we have to go somewhere that someone can check up on us? I'm assuming you mean somewhere we aren't alone and that's why you're suggesting Hogwarts?" Hermione asked, glancing back and forth between Minerva and Remus as she spoke. As much as she was grateful for the offer, the idea of being stuck at Hogwarts for god only knew how much longer she had to recover was a little depressing.

"Yes, precisely, Miss Granger." Minerva replied. She turned to look at Remus, continuing. "I'm not going to _make_ you, Remus, so get that look of thinly veiled horror off your face."

Hermione looked to Remus, finding him grinning a little and shaking his head disbelievingly. She looked to Minerva, confused.

"Oh, you forget, Miss Granger, that I taught Remus when he was younger and learnt how to read him – as well as a lot of other people – quite well. He never could hide what he was thinking from me, much to his frustration. I caught him and the other Marauders out on many an occasion because of it."

Remus poked his tongue out at Minerva while she was looking at Hermione. Hermione bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"And I definitely saw that, Mr Lupin," she added, winking at Hermione. Remus looked suitably chastised.

"Now, back to business. I did have one other suggestion, but you'd have to get the owner's permission, of course."

Hermione's brain clicked into place straight away. "Grimmauld Place."

"Yes."

"Well, I don't think Harry will say no..." Hermione trailed off, looking to Remus. "If we could just send an owl?"

"Nonsense, Miss Granger," Minerva said as she stood and crossed to the window, looking out at the green sunlit grounds of the school.

"Why?" Remus piped up, brow drawn together in confusion.

"He should be here shortly, that's why," Minerva answered, turning back to the chair. "I flooed him about an hour ago and he said he'd be here once he finished up with Severus."

Hermione moved from her sitting position on the bed and carefully, under the curious gaze of Minerva, crossed the room to perch on the end of Remus' bed, looking out of the window.

"What?" she asked when both of them just stared at her for a few moments.

"You didn't wince," Remus said, looking at her feet curiously. "Not once."

Hermione looked at her feet and shrugged. It hadn't really hurt, not like in the past. Walking the incrementally longer periods that Poppy had subjected her to had helped and improved her feet dramatically compared to that first night walking to Remus' bed.

"It only tingles, mostly. Short distances are fine now; I just have to build it up to longer distances." She smiled up at Remus then looked to Minerva who was smiling too. "So you said Professor Snape was with Harry? Is he okay?"

"Yes, for the most part. He had a few injuries, of course, but nothing as bad as the two of you. He spent some time at St Mungo's, but well..." she turned to Remus with a knowing look.

"Well what?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Severus doesn't take kindly to being mothered," Remus answered, with a wince of remembrance. "I once tried to help him after a nasty Order assignment and he hexed me six ways to Sunday without so much as a by-your-leave." He shook his head and glanced out of the window. "Oh, that's good timing. Harry's here... and it looks like Severus is, too."

x.x.x.x

Remus made his bed, then unmade it, then made it again. It was nice to have a wand back in his hand after so long. _Even if it isn't a perfect match,_ he thought as he rolled the new ten inches of oak and rosewood between his palms. _Feels a bit light, but Ollivander knows his stuff, I guess._

Levitating his suitcase – kindly brought to him from Grimmauld Place by Harry three days previous – he turned and perched on the end of his bed, waiting for Hermione who was still getting changed on the other side of the screens. He'd had a tricky time getting himself dressed, socks and shoes being a major bone of contention between him and his ribs. Poppy had ended up helping him with them, telling him slippers might be best once they were at Grimmauld Place.

"Okay, done. Where did I put my wand?" she said just loud enough for him to hear. He then heard her mutter something unintelligible under her breath and suddenly the screen was shrinking and moving over to the corner as he'd seen Poppy do numerous times during his stay.

"Done," she said to him with a quick grin and a flourish of her new wand. Vinewood, as she said it had been before, but this time a veela hair core, instead of heartstring. _Shows how much we've all changed._

Standing, he added Hermione's bag to his levitation spell and gestured for her to go ahead of him, out towards the Hospital wing office. Minerva had arranged for them to Floo to Grimmauld Place from there instead of going down to the Great Hall. _Somehow I doubt either of us would make it that far without something hurting,_ Remus thought to himself as he took one last look at their room and followed Hermione into the office.

"Well, I'll go first," Harry was saying as he shut the door to the office. It was warm in here, the fireplace huge in comparison to the rest of the room. "Then Hermione, Remus and Ginny, okay?"

Everyone nodded in assent and Harry disappeared in a flash of green. Hermione took a step towards the fireplace for her turn, stopping to hug a surprised Poppy on the way.

"Thank you for everything, Poppy," she said, holding the Healers hands briefly.

"Oh nonsense, Hermione. It's what I do. Now you take care, you hear me? I'll be over to see you in a day or two, to check you both over."

Hermione nodded and took a pinch of Floo powder, disappearing quickly into the green light, leaving Ginny, Poppy and Remus in the room.

"Thank you again, Poppy," Remus said, kissing the woman on the cheek and earning himself a glare for his impetuousness. Knowing he'd quickly tire, he moved to the fireplace.

Grabbing a pinch of the Floo powder with one hand, he guided the cases into the fireplace in front of him, everything in front of his eyes flashing green as he called out his destination.

"Ow, damnit!" he bit out through clenched teeth, grasping his side as he staggered out of the fireplace, Harry's guiding arm moving to his back. He'd forgotten that suitcases levitated whilst using a Floo had a tendency to move about in transit. The corner of one had whacked him on his back, jostling his ribs as he came to a stop at Grimmauld Place.

"You okay?" It was Ginny, having arrived moments after Remus had.

"Yes, fine," he said, trying to straighten up and dispel the pain in his ribcage. "I forgot that bags move about in transit, is all," he added with a scowl at the luggage still floating gently beside him. Taking his wand out, he ended the levitation charm and moved over to the comfiest looking chair in the room wanting nothing more than to be able to flop into it. Instead he turned away and found the _firmest_ chair in the room and tentatively sat down.

"Right, Gin and I have set up two of the ground floor rooms for you. They're next to each other, opposite to the bathroom so you don't have far to go... how did you do that in hospit- never mind," Harry rambled, stopping to put a hand over his face as his mouth ran ahead of his brain. "Me and Gin are still at the Burrow, but we're over here pretty much everyday sorting out the Order stuff. Professors McGonagall and Snape come in occasionally, too. The front room is a bit of a mess, but it's okay in here and the kitchen now that everyone's taken their stuff out."

Remus glanced at Hermione who was looking somewhat bemused at Harry's speech as she sat on a faded blue settee. The room was a lot tidier than when he'd last seen it, which was in the midst of an Order meeting and full to standing room only with Order members preparing to go out on another lot of assignments. Now it looked a little drab, the wooden chairs moved back to the kitchen, leaving only two settees, three chairs and one or two side tables. Oh, and the ancient, dusty, and nastily enchanted grandfather clock in the corner that even Molly had given up on ever moving. Harry was speaking again, so Remus dutifully turned his attention back to him.

"Molly said she'll sort out feeding you for the next couple of days, at least till you get back into the swing of things. I can stay over, if you need me to," he added, looking between Hermione and Remus. "Gin too, we don't want you to have to struggle or anything."

Remus smiled, waving a hand to catch his attention. "Harry, don't worry. We'll manage, and if we don't then we'll let you know. All I want to do right now is to take a bath, have something to eat and sleep."

"Me too," Hermione chimed in, glancing at Ginny briefly and smiling before darting a look at Remus to see if he'd seen. _What are you up to?_ he wondered.

Harry looked a little bereft, but Ginny stepped up to his side, sliding an arm around his back. He relaxed instantly and Remus smiled, it was nice to see them happy.

"Well, we'll move your bags then leave you to it," Ginny said with a pointed look at Hermione that Remus caught out of the corner of his eye. Ginny gave Remus a quick nod and, picked up Hermione's bag, nudging Harry to follow suit with Remus' then leaving the room with light steps.

Hermione still stood up, but leaning against the back of one of the armchairs looked over at him. "Who goes first?"

Remus shrugged and carefully levered himself out of the chair, moving to the doorway. "You can, Hermione. I'm more hungry than anything else right now."

Moving to stand next to him, she leant around the door frame, looking at Harry and Ginny as he was. They were standing at the other end of the hall, close together. Ginny was speaking quietly and Harry was looking rather confused.

"What do you think that's about," Remus asked, moving to stand behind her and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, well... us actually," Hermione answered, turning her head to look up at him. Even as grown up as she was now, almost twenty he recalled from one of the many conversations they'd had recently, her head still didn't quite reach his shoulders.

"Us?" he replied, one eyebrow raised in question.

"Well, I sort of told Ginny about you and me..." she trailed off and Remus knew right away she was having doubts about what that meant.

"Right, but Harry doesn't know," Remus finished for her, moving his hand from her shoulder across her back and under her arm, stopping near her waist. "Yes?"

Hermione nodded, biting her lower lip. This time he didn't prevent himself from reaching out to stop her from chewing on her bottom lip, as he had done in the past.

"That's very distracting," he said, brushing his thumb across her lower lip. She smiled and the faint blush on her cheeks darkened as she moved her gaze back to Harry and Ginny. Lifting his eyes, he saw that both of them were watching himself and Hermione, Ginny with a smile playing about her lips and Harry with a look of disbelief on his face.

x.x.x.x

Hermione snuggled closer to the body emanating warmth beside her and smiled as she felt the arm around her tighten briefly.

It had been a week since they had left the hospital wing at Hogwarts and it hadn't been an easy one. Hermione had thought she'd be able to cope with moving about more once she'd left, but had found it trying at first. Even now she could only go so far before her nerves stung. _But it's nowhere near as bad as before,_ she reminded herself sternly.

Remus had been struggling too, she knew. His ribs were taking a while to heal up not only from the jostling they had been given by the suitcases when he had flooed to Grimmauld Place, but also because of the poisoning. Although most of the silver had left his system thanks to Poppy's attention, his ribs were being little slow to catch on. More than once he'd spent time lying in bed because he'd jarred them. Poppy thought, however, that after the next full moon they should catch up, in which case he should be as good as new in less than two weeks.

"You're warm again," Hermione said into the soft blanket that covered the both of them as they sat in front of the fire in the library. Her head was turned into his shoulder – on his non-broken rib side, of course – and it came out muffled.

"Fire helps," he replied sleepily, moving a little so that his head came to rest atop hers. They'd both been sitting and dozing for the last hour, Hermione's legs tucked up onto the sofa over Remus' thighs.

Now that they were 'out in the real world' as Remus had phrased it, they knew the extent of the war, and the full cost that the wizarding world had paid to rid the world of evil that was Voldemort. Hermione didn't like to think about it if she could help it, especially not while she was stuck holed up, body not behaving like she wished it to and unable to do anything about it.

Shifting, Hermione moved her legs, pins and needles in her feet making her uncomfortable. _Stupid nerves,_ she complained.

"Sorry," she said as he lifted his head, opening his eyes to see what she was doing. "Pins and needles."

He put an arm on her knees encouraging her to put them back and then with the other hand gently took one foot and began massaging it gently.

"Better?" he asked after a few moments. Hermione nodded and offered him the other foot, gaining a laugh and a follow up massage.

"That's nice," Hermione murmured as he moved his hand up to work on her lower leg. Grinning as he tutted and did the other one, too.

He stopped and Hermione raised her head from its resting place on his shoulder, finding herself very close to his face. She smiled briefly, her gaze flickering to his lips and then his eyes. Leaning forward she closed the gap and kissed him, her mind closing in and focusing on the experience, and sensation.

The last week things between them had developed, too. They'd spoken more about what they meant to each other and attempted to be a little more intimate. _Unfortunately,_ Hermione thought to herself, _being more intimate in a house open to all and sundry isn't easy._

The comings and goings of the Order members, Harry and Ginny included, had interrupted them more once during their snogging sessions, as Hermione thought of them. Including one occasion where Professor Snape had walked in on them in the kitchen, gaped for almost a full ten seconds then turned on his heel and left without a word. It had been worth the interruption just to see that look on his face. Other visitors had been much less welcome though – she refused to think about Ron's visit except for the part where Remus had practically growled at him to get out of the house.

Remus shifted on the settee, leaning forward carefully without breaking the kiss until Hermione realised she was laying down, Remus half on top of her. She smiled into the kiss and brought a hand up to the nape of his neck, fingers mussing up the hair there as he deepened the kiss.

Tongues tangling, Hermione gasped as he brought a hand up from where he was holding onto her waist and cupped her breast carefully, the thin material of her pyjama top the only thing between them. Her back arched, pushing her chest into the touch and her hand came to grasp his upper arm just as he moved again, causing her to slip and whack into his sore ribs.

He sat upright wincing as Hermione opened her mouth to apologise. He stopped her, fingers coming to her mouth and a shake of his head.

"Don't, it's fine," he said, settling back onto the settee with a sigh. He pulled her to him with one arm and she settled back beside him feeling terrible.

"I'll be so much happier when we're both restored to our full health," he said a few moments later, as he gazed into the fire. He took her hand in his and kissed the back of it.

"Me too, I can't wait." Hermione let her head drop onto his shoulder, and squeezed his hand.

"Yep, I know exactly what I'll be doing once I'm mended," Remus continued, grinning at her as she looked up at him.

"Oh really?" she asked a look of disbelief gracing her features.

"Oh yes, I'll be putting on socks and shoes like there's no tomorrow. It'll be nice to be able to do so without wincing."

Hermione burst out laughing, not expecting his reply and pulled him in for another kiss. _Gods I love this man._

x.x.x.x

THE END

A/N: Thanks for reading this and if you've enjoyed it please consider leaving me a review- they feed the muse and let a writer know if she's any good or not.


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